


Truth, Lies and Love

by birdlight



Series: The Starting Line [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Genre: Captain America Sam Wilson, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lies, M/M, Male Friendship, One Shot, POV Bucky Barnes, Protective Bucky Barnes, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, sbw19
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 08:34:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21158711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdlight/pseuds/birdlight
Summary: Sharon Carter confronts Bucky with a truth he buries to protect his partnership with Sam.Fifth in a Series of one-shots exploring the relationship of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson.SamBucky 19 week prompt Lies/Truth





	Truth, Lies and Love

“The next time we say wait for backup, you wait for backup!” Bucky said. He had been holding it in until he was sure Sam was okay. At the moment he was sitting up in the hospital bed eating breakfast.

“I waited,” he said, taking a sip of coffee. “And no one showed until they were ready to leave so I had to act. Besides it was my call.” He put the cup down but missed the saucer and coffee sloshed onto the little table. “And things worked out.”

“It would have worked out a lot better if you’d just stayed where you were,” Bucky said. He got up to wipe the spill off the table. “You’d be back home, and not here, stitched up and…”

“Eh, they’re just flesh wounds. No major organs involved.” Sam said as he attempted to reposition himself in the bed. Bucky reached across him to rearrange the pillows. The bad guys had battered Sam and even though he wouldn’t tell him, it hurt Bucky to see him like this, so he did his best to camouflage his concern.

“That’s a lot of flesh wounds,” he said.

Sam picked up what looked like a cinnamon bun off the tray and gave it a sniff. “You want this?”

“What I want is for you to take this seriously!”

Sam stopped what he was doing and stared at Bucky. “You like me,” he said. “You really really like me.” He smiled, then started giggling as if he were sharing a secret with himself. “I’ll tell you a secret. I like you too.” His words caught Bucky off guard, but then he reminded himself that Sam was not long out of surgery,

“Of course I like you, you’re my partner, and because I like you, I do my best to watch your back but I can’t watch your back if you insist on..”

“Excuse me,” came a familiar voice from the door. Bucky’s head shot around to see Sharon Carter, standing in the doorway. Bucky wondered how much she had heard. “They said he could have one more visitor. Am I interrupting…”

“You’re not interrupting anything, just Bucky’s tirade. He didn’t like how the missions went down and he’s not used to this, he’s usually the one here, he does reckless things because he thinks he’s immortal and gets hurt, but I know better than to second guess what he does, but I get a few little scratches and he...” Sam began. He blinked and shook his head as if he was having difficulty forming his words.

“Well, in all fairness, Bucky’s wounds heal a lot faster than yours, and he’s not wrong. That mission could have gone a little smoother, but it’s no one’s fault, and we broke up the ring,” she said, taking a seat on the other side of the bed.

“Told you,” Sam said, a bit too smugly. Bucky resisted the urge to shake him and would have if he wasn’t in a hospital bed. He glanced over at Sharon, whose eyes narrowed as she watched them.

“So how are you feeling? Really?”

“Fine. I’ll get released later today and write this up as a job well done.” Sam picked at the bun, tearing off the sticky strips, examining each one closely. It was clear he was under the influence of something.

“Good, I’m glad. We’ll do a debriefing as soon as you feel like it,” Sharon said.

“I feel like it now, but I think I still have too many drugs in my system at the moment, but sure…” he held the bun up to the light as if looking for something.

“Bucky, can I have a word with you, outside,” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, a little hesitant. “You going to be alright?” He asked Sam.

“Don’t be a mother hen. I’m fine.” He finally bit into the bun. He looked a mess, bruised and bandaged, and the swelling on his face didn’t look good, but his spirits were fine. Bucky couldn’t tell if it was his natural resilience or painkillers.

He followed Sharon out into the hall, leaving the door cracked just in case Sam needed them. “What’s this about?” he asked.

She crossed her arms in front of her and leaned against the wall; her face contorting itself into concentration mode. “I’m not really sure how to address this but it seems you and Sam are getting rather close.”

Bucky swallowed. “Of course we’re close. We’re partners. That happens.”

“I remember a time when you couldn’t stand each other.”

“Things change. Stakeouts and firefights have a way of erasing old grudges, and we were, I mean we are Steve’s friends. I’m finally beginning to see why he connected with him.” Bucky knew he had to be careful or he would start babbling worse than Sam.

“And that’s it?”

“Of course that’s it. What else would it be?” Bucky asked but a small something tugged at his conscience. He knew deep down there was more to it than that, he just hadn’t reached the place of accepting it yet.

She smiled at him. “It’s just that, if partners are too close, it could lead to missions being compromised…”

“I know that. He knows that, everybody knows that. Trust me, we’re just friends, that’s all.”

“Okay,” she said. “It took me a long time to learn to trust you, so I’m going to believe you. Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t,” Bucky said.

“Good. I’ll see you at the debriefing,” she said. Bucky stayed there, watching as she walked down the hospital hallway and waited until she was out of sight. What had she noticed? True, he and Sam were spending a lot of time together off the clock, but wasn’t that normal? All they had at the moment was each other. Did other people notice? It wasn’t like they were...or were they?

He re-entered the room and took his seat by Sam’s side. He had split the cinnamon roll into several pieces. “What did she want?” He asked.

“She just wanted to remind me of some mission protocols. That’s all. Nothing important.” Bucky said. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

“Protocols,” he said and giggled. He held out a piece of the bun. “Here,” he offered. Since he knew he wouldn’t let it go, Bucky reached out for it, but Sam dropped it. Both of them went to retrieve it, their hands clasping for a brief moment. Bucky felt a flush of embarrassment but Sam laughed as he pulled his back. _He probably won't remember this tomorrow, but I will._

Bucky sat back in the chair and ate the strip of the bun, noticing how sickly sweet it was and realized there was a truth behind the lies. Sharon was right. The two of them were getting closer, and it wasn’t just their mutual connection to Steve. Things could get deeper, this, whatever it was between them could get stronger. He could lie to others, but he couldn’t lie to himself. Their work could get compromised and the last thing he wanted was for them to be split up, so he hoped to hell neither one of them would ever discover the secret truth.


End file.
